Letter To The Editor – Before We Move Forward

To the editor:
I would like the residents of Grafton to know that before proceeding with the phase 1 environmental review for Grafton elementary school, I believe this phase 1 environmental report will require Town Board approval due to its cost, which is surely going to exceed the $500 Town spending limit. The Board should know the cost of this phase 1 environmental review up front and PRIOR to any action being taken.
The Town Board should also have an estimate for legal fees and legal services that would include cost to date and going forward with the costs in the testing phase, the negotiation phase and the actual acquisition of the property phase, if it happens. The Town Board should see these costs broken out individually and added to the total cost before voting to spend our taxpayers’ dollars in regards to this matter.
The Board should also have a formal report from its existing appointed committee signed by ALL its committee members. It should detail its findings and conclusions and should include ALL financial data that they have collected and analyzed. To date there has been no such formal report given to the Board or the taxpayers.
All these costs need to be made public and published before any Board action is taken. The majority of my constituents with whom I have been in communication are opposed to the acquisition of this property so this letter is written on their behalf. Their feeling is that the Board needs to be fully informed of all the ramifications, and particularly the financial commitments involved in acquiring this property, before making any decisions or taking any votes on this matter.
There is no logical way for the Town to pursue this acquisition until the Town finances are known and that will not occur until the Comptroller’s Office completes its upcoming audit and reports back its findings.
In closing I’d like to say that I fear there would be a backlash against the Town Board if this is done without sufficient citizen input.
Sincerely, Rick Ungaro
Grafton Town Councilman
Madonna Lake Road
Cropseyville